The Valencia seminar was the first opportunity for MPs in post-conflict countries to gather and exchange experiences.

On 20th and 21st February, a seminar entitled “Conflicts : Prevention, Resolution, Reconciliation”, was held in Valencia (Spain). It was organised by the UNHCR Spanish Committee and Globalitaria Peace-building Initiatives with the support of the Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona 2004, the Generalitat of Valencia and Bancaja Foundation, and sponsored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

This was the last seminar organized by the UNHCR Spanish Committee, before the Final Conference which will be celebrated in the framework of the Universal Forum of Cultures (16-20 June) in Barcelona. The first session of the Valencia Seminar was open to the public and dealt with issues related to “Women in Conflict”. The other sessions were working sessions restricted to invited participants. MP delegates were presented with the conclusions and recommendations resulting from the work developed in previous seminars with civil society representatives, on the issues of prevention, resolution, and reconciliation. The aim was to assess and discuss their feasibility and the initiatives taken, or that could be taken, to further the agenda.

This seminar was the first opportunity for Members of Parliaments in post-conflict countries to gather and exchange experiences and points of view among themselves and also with experts from the Policy Commission of Women Waging Peace (Washington) and International IDEA (Stockholm). The following MPs were present : Mr. Osman Brka and Mr. Nade Radovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Mr. José García and Mrs. María Eugenia Mella, Chile; Mrs. María Isabel Mejía Marulanda and Mr. José Ignacio Mesa, Colombia; Mr. Silvano Hrelja and Mrs. Lucija Cikes, Croatia; Mr. José Luis Delgado Nuñez and Mrs. Luz Doris Sánchez Pinedo, Peru; Mr. Vladimir Bavlov and Mr. Bato-Jargal Jambalnimbuev, Russian Federation, Mr. Prosper Higiro and Mrs. Bernadette Kanzayre, Rwanda; Mr. Mathuzpa Lameck Mokoena and Mrs. Suzanne Christina Vos, South Africa. Mrs. Morena Herrera, an independent member of the Parliament of El Salvador, was also invited as an expert on women in conflict.

The participants underlined the importance of such a seminar which gave them the possibility to learn from other experiences on post-conflict and reconciliation. They stressed that reconciliation is a process, and pointed out that women are not only victims of conflict but also key players in healing and reconstructing a traumatized society. They also insisted on the role of the media, and the international community - especially as far as its action is detrimental to reconciliation processes and the prevention of conflicts - and the need for closer cooperation between Parliaments. They noted that MPs themselves are sometimes part of the conflict; and that they should give an example of good behaviour and refrain from fuelling the hostilities.

The IPU will continue to work on reconciliation issues and will be present at the Barcelona Forum 2004.

Women in Parliament 2003

Nordic and post-conflict countries in the lead

"2003 marked a promising year for women in national parliaments, with two world records broken and progressive developments occurring in several parts of the world", says the IPU Secretary General.

The latest statistics from the IPU show that by the end of the year, for the first time, women had broken the 15% average barrier across all national parliaments. Women today comprise 15.2% of the numbers of both lower and upper Houses. Moreover, of the 181 countries with national parliaments, over 94% have at least one woman in parliament. These achievements are tempered, to some degree, by the fact that only 14 countries have so far managed to reach the 30% threshold of women in national parliaments, a figure widely considered to signify the point at which women can make a meaningful impact on the work of the parliament.

A second world record was broken in Rwanda when elections held in 2003 saw a remarkable increase, of 23.1 percentage points, of women to the National Assembly. With a score of 48.8%, the country came the closest to reaching equal numbers of men and women in any national parliament. Until these elections, Nordic countries had been set to reach that target. Among other reasons for this progress, women MPs in Rwanda benefited from a constitutional quota which reserves 24 of the 80 seats in the lower House to women. Women in the Rwandan upper House are also guaranteed 30% of the seats.

"The trend in post-conflict countries to institute mechanisms, such as quotas and reserved seats, which ensure the presence and participation of women in the newly-created institutions has been quite effective. In fact, in addition to the regular place of Nordic countries, the last five years have seen post-conflict countries feature prominently in the top 30 of the IPU's world ranking of women in national parliaments", noted the President of the IPU, Senator Sergio Páez.

It is important that women are present from the very beginning of the post-conflict reconstruction process and that their participation is secured throughout. "Let's hope that lessons learned in Rwanda and other post-conflict countries will serve in countries undergoing post-conflict transition," Mr. Paez continued.

On the 1st of March 2004, at the unicameral level, only 7 women were Presiding Officers (6,2%) in the following countries : Dominica, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Republic of Moldova and San Marino. At the bicameral level, 14 women were Presiding Officers (10,3%), 6 of whom presided over Lower Houses, (8,8%) and 8 over Upper Houses (11,8%), in the following countries : Antigua and Barbuda (House of Representative and Senate), Bahamas (Senate), Belize (House of Representatives), Chile (Chamber of Deputies), Granada (Senate), India (Council of States – Acting President), Jamaica (Senate), Lesotho (National Assembly), Netherlands (First Chamber of the States-General), South Africa (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), Spain (Congress of Deputies) and Trinidad and Tobago (Senate).

Speakers’ actions to promote women’s participation in parliament

"Committee on gender sensitivity" "I was always a believer in the equality of all human beings. I have long been a human rights activist. As Presiding Officer, I encourage equal participation of all members, especially women parliamentarians, in order to achieve a gender balance. We have a committee on gender sensitivity, women’s representation on all standing and ad hoc committees, and women’s representation on all delegations to local, regional and international fora. I have also been involved personally in the IPU reform, especially on gender parity issues" Mr. Mosé Tjitendero, Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia

"Legislative training sessions in order to upgrade the skills of women MPs" "We have taken steps to guarantee that women parliamentarians play a part in all the activities of the parliament. They participate in the standing committees, field visits, study trips and other missions both within and outside Rwanda. We have also begun to set up legislative training sessions in order to upgrade the skills of women parliamentarians because most of them are new to parliament, just like a number of their male colleagues. We are also appealing to various partners for increased material and financial resources for the women deputies and senators, channelled in particular through the Forum des Femmes Rwandaises Parlementaires (FFRP) to help them become more attuned to the needs of the population, especially other women who see them as their forerunners and representatives." Mr. Alfred Mukezamfura, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda

"Men and women should have the same opportunities for advancement" "This is the first legislature in Hungary during which four women have held ministerial portfolios within the government. A woman presides over the largest political group in parliament, one of our women vice-presidents is also a party leader and, for the first time in the history of Hungarian democracy, the President of the Assembly is a woman. The deputies play a busy role in all the work without any need for particular support. My experience leads me to believe that the tasks assumed by parliamentarians are not connected to their gender. The differences, if there are any, are not related to matters of substance but rather to the approach and to the kind of solutions proposed. We all know that men and women approach things from a different angle. Men seek purely rational solutions while women are more attuned to sensibilities. I believe men and women should have the same opportunities for advancement in employment, studies, and politics, and that the mothers of young children should be able to benefit from their rights and return to the job market." Mrs. Katalin Szili, President of the National Assembly of Hungary

"People trust us and think that we are capable of doing the job" "In Latvia, we have approximately 20% of women in parliament. We do not have a quota system because we believe strongly that people are elected on the basis of their professional capabilities. Women are quite active, not only in the family but also in politics. Our President is a woman, our Minister of Foreign Affairs is a woman, the Speaker of Parliament is a woman and the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee is a woman too. This doesn’t mean that we have some kind of gender issues against men, it is purely to do with the development of society. Historically, women in Latvia have been very active. We are elected because people trust us and think that we are capable of doing the job. We can still do more, especially on issues such as violence in the family, or ensuring equal pay for women and men." Mrs. Ingrida Udre, Chairperson of the Saeima of Latvia

"In Scandinavia, politics is, so to speak, in the lead" "We have several explanations for the high presence of women in the Nordic parliaments. One is the proportional electoral system. In Finland, there is a proportional list but the individual choice of the voters also comes into play. Another explanation is to be found in ideological debates in the country. In this area in Scandinavia, politics is, so to speak, in the lead. The business world is falling behind, and the academic world lags behind as well. We have not enough women university professors, and women are also poorly represented in the trade unions." Mr. Björn von Sydow, Speaker of the Riksdag of Sweden

"If we institute the new system, we will have more chances of having women representatives" "In Sri Lanka, there is very little participation by women in parliament. There are many proposals to have more women candidates, but the problem is that people have to elect them. At the last election, we had many women candidates, and one candidate was a minister, but she was defeated. We have a proportional representation system, and the people prefer to elect men than women. We are now proposing to appoint a select committee to set up a new electoral system. I think that if we institute the new system, we will have more chances of having women representatives." Mr. Joseph Michael Perera, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka

"Parity is a criterion accepted by all of the political parties" "First and foremost, regardless of the fact that I am President of the National Assembly of Mali, I am an elected MP who holds convictions about policies for the advancement of women - convictions that are widely shared in the parliamentary groups and the National Assembly Bureau. With the support of the parliamentary groups and the Presiding Officers' conference, we have secured the election of two women as 4th and 6th vice-presidents of the National Assembly. A woman is also vice-president of a general committee, and the composition of parliamentary missions both within and outside the country is always mixed. Parity is a criterion accepted by all of the political parties in the National Assembly of Mali and whenever we are required to make nominations, we always seek to include both genders as a matter of principle." Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the National Assembly of Mali

"Meetings between parliamentarians and women leaders in their fields" "Within the Chamber of Deputies, the Bureau - chaired by the President of the Chamber and composed of the representatives of all the parliamentary groups - plays the lead role in decisions affecting the life of the institution which relate to political, social and cultural events held alongside the legislative work. I am keen to build on this tradition which has manifested itself in different and interesting ways. I applauded the initiative, launched by deputies within the Bureau, to set up meetings between parliamentarians and women who are leaders in their fields, either in Italy or internationally. These meetings, such as the meeting held with journalists who were in Iraq during the fighting last year, shed light on women's views on strategic questions which have a major impact on public opinion. I have also backed initiatives designed to bring the Chamber of Deputies into contact with civil society. We instituted the annual Ilaria Alpi and Maria Grazia Cutuli award, two Italian journalists who lost their lives while reporting in Somalia and Afghanistan respectively. I would also recall the December 2003 Study Day in the Chamber of Deputies devoted to the parliamentary speeches of Nilde Lotti, the first Italian woman to preside over the Chamber and who held the post longer than anybody else." Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies

"Commission to investigate murders of women in Juárez" "Of a total of 128 Senators, 22 are women. Nine of the 46 Committees are chaired by women, and we have seven Committees devoted to external relations, four of which are chaired by women from different parties. In both Chambers, the Committees on equity and gender received tremendous support from the parliamentary bodies. Every year, a parliament of women meets to discuss matters strictly related to gender and this is attended by legislators and non-governmental organizations. In the year 2003, the Senate set up a special commission to commemorate the 50th anniversary of women's suffrage in Mexico and I personally pushed for the creation of this commission, which was chaired by a woman, and I played an active part in the celebrations. The international instruments for protecting women which the Executive has referred to the Senate of the Republic for ratification have benefited from rapid treatment and all were approved. We have twelve instruments for the protection of women, ranging from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the recent Optional Protocol of the CEDAW. I should also make special mention of the establishment of a Senate commission to investigate the murders of women in Juárez. I made sure that men and women from all political tendencies sit on the commission." Mr. Enrique Jackson, Speaker of the Mexican Senate.